Joy’s Story
Looking back to my childhood I wish I knew then, what I know today- that one in five children struggle with dyslexia. Although people with dyslexia are extremely bright, they experience difficulty learning to read, as well as difficulty being taught by traditional instructional methodology.
Growing up in a family with five children, I innately knew I was the “different”one in the family. I knew I did not learn like my other siblings, and the amount of effort that it took me to learn something or understand something was enormous in comparison to my brilliant siblings. Having those struggles with learning were actually a gift in the long run. If I could travel back in time I would reassure my younger self that everything would be alright. I would tell her that one in five children struggle with dyslexia.
This statistic was proven true in my family. While my siblings easily learned to read, I struggled…
This statistic was proven true in my family. While my siblings easily learned to read, I struggled with reversals, juxtapositions, omissions, sound symbol recognition, fluency, accuracy, tracking, comprehension, memory, rapid retrieval, number line concepts and sequencing, as well as recalling math facts and basic calculations. Now those concepts may sound like a bunch of edu-babble if you are not in the education field, but to those of us versed in edu-babble, those are the trademark characteristics of dyslexia. I will be “unpacking” these concepts a bit more, as we work our way through the program, but for now it is enough to say that I really struggled with learning. Growing up in the 60’s in a small town, educators didn’t know enough about dyslexia and the characteristics of it to be able to diagnose my issues; so I struggled along making mediocre grades, feeling a sense of inadequacy, and dealing with a loss of self-worth.
I graduated from high school and went to college, only to discover that those issues in my early education still plagued me. Those self-esteem issues continued, and I felt as though I was “the stupid one” in the family.
I also found that I really excelled at creative ventures and artistic endeavors, and so naturally pursued that vein of passion.
Eventually I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Art from the University of Texas in Austin.
After graduating, I took a job as a junior high art teacher, and later a job as an elementary school teacher. It was there that I finally found my niche. As surprising as it may seem, I really excelled at teaching students to read. Often times the administrators would give me the struggling students in hopes that I could help them, and I was considered to be a gifted teacher by many of my colleagues.
My students excelled, since I would not give up on them, and we continued to work until they finally were back on track. When students didn’t understand or were not successful in learning one way, I gave them a different strategy or approach until they were successful with the concept we
were learning.
With the advent of new technologies like brain scans, brain imaging, and advances in brain research, more information became available about this mysterious problem called “dyslexia.”
Those advances in science and technology, as well as new teaching techniques, led educators to look for interventions and solutions to help dyslexic students. As a result, my district embarked on a journey that changed my life forever. They hired a handful of teachers to become Dyslexia and Intervention Specialist. I was lucky enough to be one of them. They sent me to every training under the sun for dyslexic and struggling learners, and it was there that I finally understood what my personal issues with reading and learning had been all along. I had all the markers of dyslexia. In fact, if you made a check list of every
characteristic, all of my boxes would be checked.
Armed with my new-found knowledge, I set forth on a journey to help all of those struggling children who were just like me. I felt I could not only relate to their struggles, but help them to overcome their learning difficulties, as well as significantly impact their self-esteem and the trajectory of their life.
As a result, I spent sixteen years of my public-school career helping students achieve their goals and dreams as a Dyslexia and Intervention Specialist.
After 28 years as a public school educator, I retired. However, I continue this mission to help change the lives of struggling students for the better as a consultant, private school educator, and through my program, The Joy of Reading: A Program for Helping Children with Dyslexia and Reading Difficulties. This program is a compilation of a thirty plus year journey, the knowledge that helped me personally, and the strategies that have helped countless students to become successful life-long learners.
The JOY of Reading
A proven program for helping
children overcome dyslexia
and other reading difficulties.
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